George Bedson
George Bedson (1820-1884)
George Bedson was born in Sutton, Warwickshire, in November 1820. He worked for James Edleston in Warrington, before moving to work for Richard and William Johnson in Manchester. He became the technical manager of their Bradford (Manchester) works, and invented a number of processes, his most far-reaching development being the continuous rolling mill (1862). Bedson was offered a partnership with Richard Johnson and Brother, but he declined[1]
George Bedson's first continuous rolling mill was put into service in 1862/3, at the Adelphi Salford, and after successful trials was moved to the Bradford Ironworks[2]. One source[3] states that once the patents were secured, Bedson had the mill erected in an old silk mill in the Adelphi, Salford. It may be that the premises were the former Adelphi Silk Dyeworks, previously occupied by Thomas Bury and advertised for sale in 1858.
His second, a sixteen stand mill, was installed in 1872(see below) at Richard Johnson and Nephew's works; part of this mills is displayed at Manchester's Museum of Science and Industry (see photo).
Note: Joseph Phillips Bedson wrote in 1917 that the second continuous mill was built in 1866, and was still running, and a duplicate was supplied to Washburn and Moen of Worcester, Mass., in 1867, where it came under the superintendence of Charles Hill Morgan, who went on to develop continuous rolling on a very large scale.[4]
Bedson's invention of the principles of continuous rolling of metals, initially applied to rolling wire-rod, was taken up in the USA where continuous-type rolling mills were developed[5].
George Bedson died at Bradford House, Manchester, on December 12th, 1884.
CONTINUOUS ROLLING MILLS: THEIR GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT By Joseph Phillips Bedson
From Engineering 9 May 1924
'With the advent of the telegraph came the demand for long lengths of wire ; but the wire rod rolling-mills at that time were only able to supply single pieces of 13 to 20 lb., according to size of gauge. The material rolled was either puddled or charcoal iron, in billets of 1 3/4 in. to 2 in. square, and was rolled in a looping mill to wire rods of about 1/4-in. diameter. These rods after being drawn to the required size, were then welded up to make long lengths, and in erection in situ they were spliced together with what was known as a Britannia joint; but the welded joints were ever a great source of trouble. It was under these circumstances that the late George Bedson, general manager of Richard and William Johnson Brothers, Manchester, conceived the idea of continuous rolling. He obtained a patent, dated July 2, 1862, in which he claims “the employment of a series of ‘rolls’ placed at varying angles, whereby the necessity of turning the metal is avoided,” also the use of guides formed by spiral grooves for turning the metal to be operated upon. In a second patent of September 12, 1862, he claims “the application of rolls to a furnace, so as to draw the heated metal from it or through it.”
'The idea of a continuous system was suggested to
him by the drawing frame in cotton manufacturing,
where the cotton fibre is drawn out by successive
rollers, and according as it lengthens at each draft
the succeeding roller runs at an increased speed.
Following out this idea he designed a series of 16 pairs
of rolls placed horizontally and vertically alternately,
each successive pair running at an increased speed
sufficient to take up the elongation of the metal as
it passed from one reduction to the other.
In 1862 this first continuous wire rod rolling-mill
was built (see Figs. 2 and 3); and to avoid all works’
prejudices and also to test the machine, it was erected
in an old silk mill in the Adelphi, Salford, Manchester,
with furnace and engine complete. It ran with such
success that the inventor was encouraged to find room
for it, and erected it permanently at Bradford Ironworks, Manchester, where it remained continuously
in operation until 1884.
'The rolling of a wire rod is one of the most difficult
rolling-mill problems known ; it involves the support
of a very thin oval section whilst it is being rounded
in the finishing pass. It must be remembered, too,
that the material was anything but homogeneous.
A simple puddled bar was quite out of the question and nothing else would serve but a wash-heated box
pile, built up with four good iron flats outside, and
four square puddled bars inside (Fig. 4), rolled down
to a 1 1/8-in. billet. Initial difficulties due to surface
defects were successfully overcome. One of the many
difficulties which presented themselves was the unsoundness of the puddled iron billets. However sound they
appeared, they nevertheless developed spills on their
surface, which became detached in passing through
the guides from one roll to the other. The inventor,
therefore, took out a patent, dated September 8, 1864,
in which he claimed :—
'First, forming perforations in the guides for the
passage of scale or other detached particles of metal.
Secondly, forming the guides in two or more portions
for facility of removal. Thirdly, forming the guide
in two or more portions, which were held together by
clamps, springs, or other binding apparatus which
would yield to undue pressure. Fourthly, carrying
out such rolling as above referred to in two operations,
with an intermediate operation of scraping.
'As previously stated, when the experiments in
Salford had proved successful, the mill was dismantled
and re-erected at Bradford Ironworks. It was run
by unskilled labour, for the skilled rollers of the two
existing looping mills rolling No. 4 rods of 13 lb. to
20 lb. would have nothing to do with the new machine ;
in fact, they were very antagonistic. However, the
looping mills were soon scrapped, and the works
having thus “burned their boats” became dependent
upon the new mill, which was capable of rolling No. 5
rods out of l 1/8-in. billets 18 ft. long, weighing about
75 lb. This mill eventually rolled large quantities of
best puddled iron rods to No. 8 to draw to No. 9 telegraph wire; and when it came to roll Swedish
charcoal iron it did it splendidly. A second improved
mill was built in 1866, which was destined to make
history; for, in 1868, a replica of this mill was made
for the Washburn Moen Manufacturing Company, of
Worcester, Mass., U.S.A., now incorporated by the
American Steel Wire Company, and the superintendent
of which was the late Charles H. Morgan, who eventually became the founder of the Morgan Construction
Company, of Worcester, Mass.
The original idea for the Worcester mill was to roll
1 1/8-in. billets made out of scrap iron, “wash-heated,”
but the difficulties were too great; and as no suitable
billets were obtainable in America, they turned to
Sweden, which could furnish softer grades of iron in
the form of long billets of sound material. Here the
mill began to show itself. The billets were clean, with
smooth surfaces, and being so highly weldable, “ rolled
like butter.” It was Mr. W. E. Rice, afterwards
president of the Washburn Moen Manufacturing
Company, who was the first to see and to report to his
company upon the first Bedson mill, on his visit to
Great Britain in 1867. He also claimed that his firm
was the first in the United States to import iron and
steel direct from the Swedish manufacturers. He died
on December 2, 1919, aged 86. It may be interesting
to note that this mill for Worcester, with its 16 sets
of rolls, housings, gearing, and a pair of high-pressure
non-condensing engines to drive it, was supplied for
a sum of 2,000l., f.o.b. Liverpool, and the Siemens
regenerative gas furnace, 22 ft. long overall, cost
1,000/.
'In 1870 a third mill was installed at Bradford Ironworks of a much heavier build, and capable of taking a larger billet to roll to No. 5. This mill ran until 1895. All these mills at Bradford Ironworks were then rolling piled, puddled, and charcoal-iron billets, or Swedish charcoal “Lancashire” iron; this latter material being much called for in those days for telegraph and better-class material. It has long since been displaced by open-hearth basic steel, which has given the lie to the old proverb that “you cannot make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.” for out of low-grade ores an open-hearth metal is being made, giving as good results as the best Swedish material. Reference is meant to “ Armco ” iron.
'From the ’nineties onwards the invention underwent its full and natural development in the United
States of America, where to-day 30 per cent, of the
rolled products are rolled on the continuous system.
The Washburn Moen Manufacturing Company having
finally decided to adopt the continuous system, founded
upon the lengthened experience of the original 1868
mill, they designed, under Mr. Morgan’s direction,
the first continuous wire-rod rolling mill in America.
Mr. Morgan departed from the original design of
alternate horizontal and vertical rolls and used all
horizontal rolls, with suitable twist or spiral guides
between each pair, so as to present the rod to each
in the correct position for compression. This mill
was erected in 1878. The chief object in adopting
horizontal rolls was to do away with the underground
gearing for the vertical rolls, upon which the water
and scale fell, causing excessive wear and tear.
The product of these mills at the outset could be
wound up by hand on a simple reel, single purchase.
As the output increased a double purchase was used to get a greater speed; then the men could no longer keep pace and a steam-driven reel was introduced, the speed of which was regulated by a throttle and brake. It was soon found that the mill could be run at a speed beyond that at which a boy could pick up the end of the rod as it came from the last pair of rolls and stick it in the reel. The outcome was an automatic reel placed near the finishing rolls to receive the rod at the corresponding speed at which the rolls delivered it, thereby producing an evenly wound coil. Mr. Morgan designed and patented such an automatic reel, as also Mr. Daniels; and it is entirely due to its adoption that the speed of the continuous mill is limited only by the heat due to compression, which would eventually cause the metal to melt. A 12-in. roll can be run at a speed of 1,000 r.p.m. Little or nothing was done in this country with the system outside the Bradford Ironworks; but in 1884 La Soeiete Anonyme de Commentry Fourchambault, Nievre, France, ordered a mill similar to the 1866 mill, to run on a royalty, and it was built at Bradford Ironworks, under the direction of the author. The company did not, however, make a success of it, although it did roll as much as 12,000 kg. of 4 mm. beautifully soft material. This was the first continuous mill to run in France. The author demonstrated at those works that it was possible to roll a billet direct from an ingot, and with the initial heat to finish it into a No. 8 wire rod. This was in October, 1885. Mr. Bedson died before this mill was finished, on December 12, 1884, at the age of 64......' [Continues at length].
1885 Obituary [6]
GEORGE BEDSON, who died on the 12th of December 1884, was manager of the firm of Messrs. Richard Johnson & Nephew, of Manchester.
He was born at Sutton-Coldfield, in Warwickshire, on the 3d November 1820, so that he was in the sixty-fifth year of his age. Its 1839, after having acquired a considerable knowledge of the wire trade at works carried on by his father, Mr. Bedson took a position at the wireworks of the late Mr. James Edleston, in Warrington, and thence he proceeded in 1851 to Manchester to act as manager of the works of Messrs. Richard Johnson & Brother, afterwards Messrs. Richard Johnson & Nephew, where he remained for the rest of his life.
While he was at Manchester, Mr. Bedson initiated a number of important improvements in the wire manufacture, including a system of circulating puddling furnace water bottoms and sides, and a galvanising process which is now very generally adopted in wire-mills. His system of continuous rolling of wire rods is another of the most valuable improvements in the history of the wire trade, and one that is still carried on in Manchester and elsewhere. By this invention the billets can be rolled without welds into rods weighing, if need be, half a ton. Mr. Preece, electrician to the Post-Office, has stated how much telegraph engineers were indebted for this and other improvements to Mr. Bedson. The latter gentleman was also the author of a method of mechanical puddling, which, however, is not now carried on, and it is claimed for him that upwards of twenty years ago he propounded to the late Sir William Fairbairn the theory of continuous brakes for railway trains, a system which Westinghouse and others afterwards perfected, and which is now in general use. One who knew Mr. Bedson well has remarked of him that he possessed a large amount of sagacity and common sense.
Mr. Bedson was elected a member of the Iron and Steel Institute in 1869, but never took any prominent part in its proceedings.
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ '200 Years of Richard Johnson & Nephew' by Michael Seth-Smith, Richard Johnson & Nephew Ltd., 1973
- ↑ The Engineer 1917/10/19
- ↑ '200 Years of Richard Johnson & Nephew' by Michael Seth-Smith, Richard Johnson & Nephew Ltd., 1973, p.50
- ↑ The Engineer 1917/10/19, p.336
- ↑ The Engineer 1919
- ↑ 1885 Iron and Steel Institute: Obituaries